Month

January 2017

I mean, he was. He arrived at our sunny little island on Friday. And I was there at the airport with Calynn, to welcome him. Well, not exactly. We aren’t fans, just there for fun. I was mainly there to take pictures. Haha.

Thursday night, I was actually scrolling through Park Bogum’s FB fanpage when I saw a video of him and other Reply cast congratulating Kyung Pyo on his first Sg fanmeet. What? Sg? A bit of searching later, I realised his fanmeet was on Saturday and I also found his flight details. It’s at night, it’s Friday… Hmmm. I could perhaps… go? Jio-ed Calynn and she was on.

Friday. On the way to the airport, I googled for Song Seung Heon’s flight details. I knew he had a fanmeet on the same day as Kyung Pyo and was just being nosey. Alamak! Song Seung Heon (for some reason, I cannot name Song Seung Heon without his surname) and Kyung Pyo were on the same flight! I’m not a fan of Song, but it’s still pretty exciting! 2 stars coming at the same time!

Calynn and I chatted over tea at Hello Kitty Orchid Garden first, since it was still early. Erm, I was a bit underwhelmed by the cafe. Stuff there are crazy expensive.

We wondered if there would be a crowd to welcome the 2 stars as we slowly walked to the arrival gate. A barricade was already up, so we waited there. That was when the fun began. We tried to guess which fan was there for who. A malay guy fan of Kyung Pyo started chatting up other people. “Who are you here for? Song Seung Heon? I’m here for Ko Kyung Pyo.” The auntie had a blank look on her face. I guess she hadn’t heard of the young actor. Haha.

There was a group of young guys with lenses, who intrigued us. Why were they there? Why would they be interested in Song Seung Heon and Ko Kyung Pyo? So I did what I did best, eavesdrop. A group of aunties (Song’s fans) apparently asked them who they were waiting for. “Oh? So yours are on the 9.45 Asiana flight? Not like the other on SQ! I see.” WHAT???? More celebrities are arriving? What is happening???

Using my very powerful eavesdropping skill, I gathered Davichi was also coming that night. Oh my gawd. What luck!

More and more people came. Some clueless passersby asked the people behind us who we were waiting for. “Who? Korean actor? What drama? Orhhhh… that guy….” Past arrival time. Everybody was on their toes. Just one scream or squeal was enough to send everyone there into a frenzy. Where? Where? Which one? Turned out there were groups of youngsters waiting for the arrival of their friends. Us two just kept laughing at the commotion.

And finally, I saw a very tall guy in stripes… and wondered if he was…. Then, people started screaming and running to the other side where Belt 46 was. Fine, I’ll bite. Calynn stayed put in case our space got taken up. Everybody at Belt 46 there was waving and clicking frantically. Frankly, it was so blardy far I had to look at their handphone screens to know which person to aim at.

As suspected, it’s this guy in stripes. (Well, he’s the only one tall enough to be him) This girl who was clicking non-stop beside me, starting laughing and said “What if he is not Kyung Pyo? He looks kinda confused.” You mean you didn’t confirm he’s him before you waved and clicked? Lol. By the way, what kind of fashion is that? All in stripes!

This ‘guy in stripes’ was looking around, like he wasn’t sure how to respond to this group of people crazily trying to get his attention. Not me hor. I was calm and composed.

I went back to Calynn, chuckling, not knowing if I had indeed taken pictures of the actor. Checked my camera, zoomed….. Oh yeah! It IS him. Haha.

Finally, he arrived at the exit looking very stunned to see so many people there. Lol. Just look at him. Haha.

The malay fan shouted: OH MY GOD! IT’S KYUNG PYO! I had moved in front by then and managed a weak hello. No worries, I didn’t call him oppa. I didn’t shout his name. Haha. As I said, I was there to take pictures.

He seemed to be in a daze, and was walking somewhat awkwardly.It looked like he was coming towards us to greet us but the security guards swooped in and swished him away at lightning speed. It was no joke ok. I thought they were The Flash. He walked much faster than Yunho and Changmin that time. I couldn’t keep up.

Half the crowd went away after Kyung Pyo left. Wow. So many were there for him? Song still didn’t show. In the state of confusion, people in front started snapping pictures again. I followed suit, while trying to make out who it was. By the time I realised Davichi just walked past me, it was too late. I didn’t get any shots of them. Mainly because they were so tiny! I jokingly told Calynn that I am always awed by how tall the male celebrities are in real life, and how short and small the females one are. 😛

People started moving away to another section of the airport. By moving, I mean running. Soon, I found myself running too. Realising that it was impossible for Song to come out at an exit without barricade, I started heading back. Met Calynn in the middle. We were going to take our own sweet time when I turned around and saw the same big group of fans running towards us. Oh my!

After some running and lots of laughing, we decided to call it a day. That was her first celeb airport experience and she agreed it was very fun.

Saturday. Haircut ended earlier than expected. Wanted to do a bit of CNY shopping. So I decided to head down to Suntec City where Kyung Pyo would make a short appearance at 5:5 FiveFiveKr.

He walked up from behind me. Then passed me by, just one arm’s length away. Wah! So handsome!

The store has an open concept. Great! Fantastic photo opportunity! But boohooo, I did not have a camera with me. Luckily, I had my iPad. At least it takes better pictures than my handphone.

He walked around the store, looking pretty overwhelmed. In fact, the staff had to keep asking us to cheer loudly for him because he was very shy. Ok, I won’t lie. I was basically hyperventilating the whole time.

See what I mean? I really wished I had my camera with me.

Second outfit! I love this! He looks so good after he slimmed down. No doubt he was already blessed with good height, long legs and a pleasing face.

Bye Kyung Pyo!

Photos of Korean stars always garner a tremendous response online. It’s so fun to chat with friends whom I don’t even know watch Kdramas, and whom I had never even chatted with online. And it’s always amusing to me, to watch fans in action, eavesdrop on gossips and laugh at their antics.

That’s why I love being a fangirl, or pretending to be one. It’s just unadulterated fun and the feeling of being young again.

I’ve had friends requesting for me to take more pictures for them. Woo Bin… Park Bo Gum… Well, if the timing fits, I will. But right now, I just cannot seem to find Woo Bin’s flight details….Anybody knows?

Our friend, Bernard, who is also our Rubberband bandmate, set up an art studio a while ago. I know, how talented is he right? He is an awesome singer, and an equally talented artist.

Last Christmas, he invited the whole band (plus our 2 little ones, of course) to his studio for an art jam session. I was prepared to paint for 3 hours but it dragged to 5! Haha.

This is his very cozy art studio, Arterspace Art Studio, at Bukit Timah Shopping Centre. He’s moving soon though. Like his FB page for updates.

Under his guidance, the kids successful did their first acrylic painting. It’s the super cute Nyanko Sensei from Natsume’s Book of Friends!

I did a landscape scene from one the Ghibli animation films. I don’t know which one.

To be honest, I have some art skills but prior to this, I had never done blending with paints and landscape pictures. I mostly do art pieces like this. That is why I deliberately chose this beautiful painting of light shining down through the canopy. I wanted to learn how to paint stuff like that. Bernard and Herman taught me well and I think I’ve gotten a little hang of it. Now, I am a little braver to experiment with different techniques. Oh, full disclosure, Bernard did the light rays for me. Hehe.

I guess the kids couldn’t get enough of doing art and we had another art session at home before school started. Barry opted to design his machines and weaponry with pen. His drawings are always very freestyle. Haha.

Mandy painted a yokai, also from Natsume’s Book of Friends. If you haven’t watched the animation series yet, go watch. It’s a a wonderful cartoon that even I enjoyed immensely.

Isn’t this pretty? She didn’t do blending and there wasn’t any refined techniques involved but it turned out perfect. I helped her with the background and gave her pointers along the way. We were both pleased with the outcome.

At the same time, I also worked on a Porco Rosso piece, another Ghibli animation. Previously, I would avoid such works because of the sky. My style is clear defined lines with outlines. Haha. But I tried and it turned out ok! Whew. It’s also one of the few times I drew something freehand.

Both paintings were done in poster paint, which presented a lot of problems as compared to acrylic. I shan’t bother with the details though. Haha.

Went to soak up the Christmas mood at Orchard Road last december. Very happy Trixie’s family joined us. I wanted the kids to see the decoration at Centrepoint. So, after a movie at Lido Orchard (very boring Rogue One. I dozed off twice), we had dinner and slowly walked to Centrepoint while admiring the sights and enjoying some of the activities on the way.

Finally at Centrepoint! It deserved to win the Best Dressed Mall award (voter’s choice). Ion won the judge’s choice. Erm, well, it was quite pretty but didn’t wow me.

Centrepoint’s theme was some kind of Christmas Kitchen with LOADS of gorgeous fake pastries, confectionery, sweets, drinks etc. I couldn’t help but squeal at the intricate creations.

Talking about festive decorations. Recently, an article came out on the papers. It was about this uncle, a resident of Marsiling, who decorates a part of the common area every festival, to bring in festive cheer to the neighborhood. Since my mum stays in the area, we went to take a look during our visit.

Wow. I was impressed. Every evening, he would even set up a bubble machine for the kids. Unfortunately, I did not get to see the light-up at night. This Chinese New Year, I will be sure to visit the area again. Looking forward to his CNY decorations!

We went with Trixie’s family to Loola Adventure Resort, Bintan in the December holiday. It wasn’t what the kids expected but we all had so much fun!

The 2 families stayed together in the Isa Villa. Pretty, but layout was a bit odd.

It was low tide when we reached the resort on the first day.

The ‘Sea Restaurant’ where we had some of our meals.

First day’s activities were coconut-tree climbing, obstacle course and archery.

Sunrise on Day 2. These are the sea huts for 2 pax.

View from my room. Isa villa has individual rooms joined by corridors and steps.

We spent the whole morning of day 2 kayaking. The water there was fantastic for kayaking. We kayaked to 2 islands and into the mangroves. So much fun!

After lunch, the tide started to recede. Time for land activities.

We did the scariest activity of the lot that afternoon: Sky-walking. You climb up a long ladder to reach a horizontal plank tied to the coconut tree. Without any handrails or anything to hold on to (except the rope attached to your harness), you have to move to the middle of the plank and jump off.

That adrenaline rush! I and Barry went twice.

Then, the kids went rock-climbing. Adults sat out because we were not interested.

We requested for another round of archery before dinner. Had a belated birthday celebration for Natalie. 🙂

Sunrise on Day 3.

Fishies working hard in the morning. Can you spot a whole school jumping out of the water?

The sun casting its golden light on our villa.

That morning, we did Boom-netting. That was the BEST! We got on a boat and jumped off its sides into a huge net. There were level 1 and 2. Level 2 was indeed challenging. Oh man, we enjoyed ourselves so much that morning!

Us chilling in the net.

Deadbeat from all that jumping and laughing and screaming, we had to drag ourselves to the next activity after lunch. By we, I mean the adults. The kids didn’t seem to tire at all.

On the way to the zipline, we spotted a stork-billed kingfisher.

Initially, everyone was apprehensive. Jump off the 4-storeys high platform? Into this small pool of water? Hmmm. What if we miss the water and crash into the beams?

Brave Barry and Jared were game enough to try first. I tell you, they didn’t want to stop afterwards. Our guide Conti had to limit our tries to 3 times each. Here’s me trying to take a video going down. Haha.

2nd time.

It started raining and we had to skip our marine walk. Next activity: pizza making for the kids.

Then, we had a sumptuous dinner by the campfire.

The crab was DE-LI-CIOUS!

Pretty moon.

That was not the end of our fun though. Conti squeezed in dragon-kayaking for us the next morning, before we checked out at 11.30am.

Kids were so sad to leave the place and want to return. I am happy we all got to try so many awesome activities. I learned so much about my family and myself during this trip. Great holiday!